Guardian
by MissAzuka
Summary: The Day Raven had feared all her life has finally come, her Birthday. Under Trigons command, Slade attempts to complete the first part of the prophecy, but what events will unravel?  Alternate Universe - based on TV episode Birthmark and onwards.
1. Chapter 1

**Set at the beginning of the TV series episode, Birthmark and onwards, In a Alternate Reality setting, Hope you enjoy.**

**Please also be aware that i live in the UK, hence, i use a english (uk) spell and grammar checker, so to the US readers out there, i am sorry if some of the spelling seems out of place.**

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It was the anniversary of Ravens birth, an occasion the Titans deemed worthy of throwing a celebration, even if it was for someone who was likely to just turn around and leave the room moments after entering.

That would have been the better result, after a slightly heated argument, Raven's powers lashed out, destroying most of the decorations and the cake they had made for her.

Guilt echoed in her chest as she saw the look on the faces of her fellow Titans, to her, this was not a day to be celebrated and had not found the courage to tell her friends the reason, the consequence could result in further alienation, even having to leave the Titans, worst case scenarios yes, but valid ones.

Raven had isolated herself in her room, attempting to make the day pass quicker by remaining in deep meditation, with her anxiousness for the day to end and the fear of what was likely to come.

She found it difficult to remain in a meditative state for more than a few minutes at a time, the results, quite aggravating to the sorceress. It was almost 9pm, just a few more hours till the day would end and her fears would be gone.

Her legs shifting back into their lotus position, hands resting on her knees, Raven focused, form levitating little by little from her bed hovering a few feet above the bed now. Her mind focused, trying to calm her erratic thoughts, taking slow, deep, breaths, one after the other until her mind had begun to focus and to calm herself, she focused on her time in Azerath.

To Raven, it was as though she was there again, watching through her own two eyes which looked down at the grass beneath her rather small feet, walking out of one of the temples for the allotted time of 30minutes, that was all the outside contact with the world she was permitted and even then had to remain on the grounds, not even allowed to see her own mother.

She sat beneath the large tree, she could feel her facial muscles twitch into a slight smile as she saw the familiar animal on a branch above her. It seemed to have been a mix between a squirrel and a gecko, its form having a near identical build to that of a squirrel, scales instead of fur however with a large reptilian coiled tail.

Something was odd about it however, the memory was faint but something had caught her attention, she tried to focus, but the harder she tried the blurrier her vision seemed to become.

Suddenly she couldn't breath, the memory of Azerath gone and she was back in her room, or so she believed, grasping at her own throat, struggling to breath from the heat, she could see fire consuming her room.

"What you have concealed, you shall now become. You have no other choice, you're destiny will be for filled." A dark demonic voice spoke, echoing through the room as Raven looked around with panic when the symbol of sketh burnt brightly on the wall. "The Portal must be opened!" The demonic voice shouted and Raven cried out.

She awoke, not levitating any more, on her hands and knees, clenching at the bedding, sweat dripping heavily from her brow, watching the droplets soak into the sheets beneath. Raven steadied herself, trying to assure herself that it was nothing but a nightmare brought on by her own fears and insecurities then her body jolted back slightly at the sudden sound of knocking on her door.

She tried to steady herself, moving to and opening the door to see Robin standing on the other side, before he could speak, the alarm went off.

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The Titans arrived at the scene of the crime, a factory in the centre of Jump City but the one to challenge them, was not who they expected, it was Slade.

They threw everything they had at him, they weren't holding back, but as they attempted to attack individually and as a team, Slade easily outdid them with the strange new powers he seemed to have acquired, the most notably was the control of fire.

The battle continued for no more than ten minutes, that was when Slade had finally grasped Ravens wrist and with the release of power coming from him like an electric current, exploding on contact with anything it touched, the factory began collapsing.

It was then that Raven cried out for the second time in the last hour, her powers increased exponentially at the release of emotions when time itself seemed to have stopped. She looked around, realizing that everything had gone quiet, the flames did not move, even Beastboy was visible in mid transformation, simply suspended in air.

"How did i..." She spoke softly when she felt his presence.

"You might be able to stop time birthday girl, but you cannot stop me. You can't stop any of it really." Slade said, she could feel the smirk under his mask as his form slowly moved towards her.

"I have to say Raven, when i found out the truth, i was very impressed, all this time i had no idea the power lurking inside you, the glorious destiny that...Ugh!" Slade was suddenly cut off as a fist collided with the right side of his face, sending the unprepared villain crashing into and through the wall just a few meters to his left.

Raven was clenching her head, back pressed against one of the oversized metal rods that held the gears inside the factory in place. She was startled by the sudden sound, her eyes opened, her vision blurry, she felt weak, she couldn't focus.

"Raven, get the hell out of here!" The voice from the darkened figure shouted at her, even through her own panic she could sense the strong panic and yet, determination in the others mature sounding voice, she was certain she had never heard that voice before.

Raven stood there, her vision clearing, she was regaining some control over her own trembling form but nearly dropped to her knees when the figure shouted at her. "For Azar Sake Move!"

The figure had taken a hurried step towards Raven when it seemed the roles were reversed as the side of its face was struck by a large metal gear, sending the figure with a loud crash, colliding into the floor 25 feet below.

Slade jumped into Ravens sight as it had cleared.

"You? It was you all along?" He yelled in anger and disbelief, his attention not on Raven but the Man below, pushing the large metal gear off himself and stood with a smirk.

Slade simply growled in frustration and jumped down and with a loud thud landed on his knees, not wasting time as he charged the man.

The two blackened figures moved quickly, throwing kicks and punches at each other, but neither of them landed a solid blow, dodging or deflecting the others attack, she still couldn't get a clear look at the other person and hovered slowly down from to the ground.

It was strange watching the two men fight, the only moving things all around them while everything remained still. The man seemed to have briefly lost his footing, Raven gasped as Slade took the opportunity to step forward, one solid blow of his fists after another hitting the man, she felt sick, what seemed to be the sound of cracking bones reached her ears.

Slade was getting over confident and the Man had regained his footing, grasping and gripping hard as he caught Slades fists in the palms of his hands, the two started pushing against each other, the man started yelling, louder and louder, she could feel those rages build up inside of him, drawing strength from it as Slades stance begun to lower as his fists were being broken.

Slades right knee shot forward, connecting with a loud thud into the mans stomach. His body lurched forward slightly from the impact, but his head had shot back and with another loud yell brought his head down within a second of the knee hitting his stomach. Raven felt sick if she had eaten anything today she knew that she couldn't have kept it down, the loud snapping of bone reaching her ears again and as she looked, her eyes widened in shock.

Slades head was hanging too far back for it to be natural, the only thing seeming to stop his head from dropping to the floor was the fabric of his uniform. Slades form twitched, convulsed slightly but the man did not stop, releasing Slades fists and driving his foot hard into Slades stomach to return the favour, sending the masked villain flying and then skidding across the floor to a halt.

The Man breathed heavily, staring over at Slades twitching form, it was then that he noticed Raven was still here, growling loudly under every laboured breath, approaching the sorceress.

"I told you to get the hell out of here!" He shouted, she again could sense his emotions, there was definite anger, but it was not directed at her.

"B-B-Beastboy?" She whispered in confusion.

She finally could see the full form of the man, his height rivaling that of Slades, his form was muscular, but not bulky, it suited the proportion of his body and did not look out of place, he was wearing the Doom Patrol style uniform, but it fitted him.

She looked to his face, it was slightly more canine, sharp cheekbones, even more so pointed ears, slitted eyes, the tips of four sharp canines sticking from his top and bottom lips.

Overall, it looked like he was in his late twenties, the same short hair though and the green skin had not changed either.

In disbelief her head turned to where she had seen Beastboy just a few minutes before, but there was no sign of him.

"Raven, for once in your life listen to me, get the hell out of here!" He shouted again, trying to shock the sorceress back to reality, he was too focused on her to realize that Slade had already gotten back up, snapping his head back into place, yelling out as he gathered his anger into the fire and threw the fire ball towards Beastboys back.

Raven gasped, her eyes widened, Beastboy could see the glare of the fire in her eyes and turned around, rising his arms defensively before his face and as the fire struck and consumed his body, he cried out.

Raven stumbled back, trying to crawl away, she was unsure what to expect but it certainly wasn't this.

The fire that had hit Beastboy had vanished shortly after impact, Beastboys Uniform was visibly scorched but mostly his upper body, Strangely enough however it was not skin beneath that she could see, his form briefly seemed slightly bulky, what seemed to be armadillo shells like old roman Legionnaire armor had covered most of his skin from the neck down.

As he felt the heat dissipate, the shells seemed to sink back into his skin and he turned to Raven, to help her up. "Are you all right?" He asked and she nodded slowly.

"Touching." Slade said sarcastically and thew another powerful fireball towards Beastboy, turning, the armor growing out of his skin to protect himself again, but before the blast struck, Raven clung to his back and blackness enveloped them, teleporting them out of there.

The two of them appeared at the outskirts of Jump City, in the city Dump, strange location, but bound not to be the first one anyone would look for them.

"What the hell is going on!" Raven shouted, pieces of garbage exploding behind her. "Who are you?" She continued to shout but Beastboy simply stood there, looking down at the, compared to him, short Raven.

"I could ask you the same thing, daughter of sketh." He said, but the smirk on his face made it clear that he knew exactly what was going on. "Besides, I'm hurt you don't remember me watching you from that tree for all those years." He remarked and her eyes widened.

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**I apologize if the story in any way seems to copy someone elses, i thought it was a unique idea as i had yet to find a story like it but then again for all i know someone posted one many years ago. Again, if it does seem that i am, please provide the link and i will most likely discontinue then.**

**If not however, please do review and add to your alerts as it always makes me smile when i see my inbox with even a single email saying someone has. Hope you enjoyed/**


	2. Chapter 2

**Well, after re-reading the first chapter a dozen times, i have to admit myself it felt rather crude, but it also helps to determine myself to do better this chapter, which i hope i won't dissapoint with.**

**Its a shame that unlike my other two stories this one doesn't seem to be doing to well, but with only one crudely written chapter, that was to be expected,**

**Anyway, i hope you enjoy this chapter more so than the last.**

**Again, i do not own the Teen Titans, Jump city, etc. etc. etc.**

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Raven stood silently among the piles of garbage of the Jump city Dump which surrounded her, her eyes were slightly widened and her mouth somewhat open but no words escaped, just a slightly exhausted breath as she stared back at the tall green changeling before her.

Those last few sentences he spoke stirred emotions inside her, happiness, sadness, anger, disappointment, it was all too confusing to her, feeling positive and negative emotions at the same time, uncertain which one she should act on.

Beastboy simply stood there with that same smug smirk on his face, he had gotten under her skin, granted he was going to leave a few details for later, but to keep her from blowing up the entire area, he needed her to focus specifically on a few subjects.

"You know who my father is?" Raven finally said, hesitation audible in her voice though trying to regain her usual monotone composure.

"Yes." Beastboy simply replied, no matter how hard she tried to compose herself, her body language and scent told him that she was still quite shaken up and he would not force further weight on her shoulders by telling her exactly what he knew.

Raven closed her mouth, her eyes trailing down to look at the floor, she had tried to keep this secret from her friends for as long as she could, fearing that their finding out about her heritage would alienate herself from them, her knew family, now out of all them, Beastboy knew, but since when?

If it was since the Mirror incident then that meant Cyborg knew as well, did the whole team know then and never said anything?

"Don't worry, I am the only one who knows." Her head shot up at the sound of Beastboys words and looked at him with confusion.

"Your body language says it all, don't know if you noticed but you're biting your bottom lip and shuffling your feet nervously." He simply stated and as Raven looked down, she realized that she was in fact doing these things.

"You're...more perceptive then i thought." She said, as always trying to hide her emotions.

"Why thank you Raven, that almost sounded like a compliment." Beastboy chuckled lightly.

He may look different, older, but while he seemed more mature, there was definitely that childish side to him still floating around in there. If that was a good or bad thing during this situation, she wasn't sure, what she was sure of was that out of all the people she thought would help her, Beastboy was the last.

Granted, there were times where they seemed to be very open and affectionate towards another, those moments tended to last but a few seconds with either Beastboy making a silly remark, or her trying to hide her emotions, which usually ended up with Beastboy in the ocean.

Now however, he stood there, looking at her, though his lips curled into a smug smile, she could sense that he was still very afraid, but of what? Slade? For himself? The others? Her?

"What did you mean, when you said, that i don't remember you were watching me from that tree." She finally asked.

Beastboy slowly leaned forward, his emerald eyes staring straight into her own violet eyes, she felt a presence, it did not feel like someone was trying to probe her mind but at the same time, in some sense, it did.

"Those priests really did the full number then, didn't they?" He said but seemingly to himself with a sigh and straightened himself back up.

"The priests? What..." Raven was cut short as Beastboys head suddenly snapped to the left, his ears and nose twitching, he could hear and smell something and considering that from what she could tell, Slade was the only one who could give out either scent or sound, it made her worry to see such a serious expression on his face.

"Great, he's tracking your powers, come on." Beastboy said and reached down, before Raven could protest he picked her up, a way a man held his bride and quickly began to run, he would try to hide them in the city.

"I know its hard, but i need you to control yourself more than ever now, any burst of your power and he will likely track us down in a matter of minutes." Beastboy said, he didn't look down at her but she could see the seriousness in his eyes, trying not to struggle in this unusual position for herself.

"I'll try." Raven said now in her old monotone voice which caused the changeling to smile a little.

Beastboy was running back towards the city, he was taking the scenic route, trying to loose Slade Raven thought and didn't object, though at times when he jumped from a height which she expected to break his legs she clung tightly to him but the impact seemed barely to phase him and continued even with the sound of apparently cracking bones.

"What is the plan?" Raven suddenly asked.

"Well, considering your reaction, i doubt you can control this time field." Beastboy said and she shook her head slowly to agree with his statement.

"And from the intensity of it, i would say you will be running low on energy in the next 40minutes, hour at most, if you can avoid blowing up more garbage." He said the last part with a slight smirk causing Raven to glare slightly.

"Wouldn't it be quicker for you to change into an animal and carry me that way?" Raven asked, noting that since realizing this was Beastboy, the only change she had witnessed was the armadillo like armor having briefly covered his form for protection.

"Any animal i turn into big enough to carry you would either be too slow or too loud, might as well put a giant neon sign on my back saying, look here." He said but there was no humour in his voice.

She wasn't sure how much time had passed but held her questions until they would come to a halt, though Beastboy always kept his balance, she didn't feel like him falling with her still in his arms like this. He was right though, even though Beastboy was doing all the running, she was feeling tired, her powers were draining at an alarming rate and soon the time field would collapse.

Finally they came to a halt, hiding inside of an apartment towards the city Centre, only a few blocks from where the fighting had started and luckily the apartment was empty of people.

Beastboy sat Raven down on the couch, his kind smile fading slightly as he gently pressed the back of his gloved hand against her head, she felt hot and sweat was trickling down the side of her face.

Sticking his nose outside of the apartment quickly, Beastboy checked to see if he could hear or smell anything, but nothing, with the wind however having stopped as well, that was not as reassuring as he would have liked.

"Well, i bet you have questions." He said after coming back out from the kitchen, passing a bottle of water to Raven who accepted it and sipped some of it before replying.

"Many." She said.

"Ok, shoot." He said plopping down on the couch opposite her, his legs parted, elbows resting on his knees, slouched forward but looking at her.

"Are you Beastboy?" She asked bluntly, this surprised Beastboy having expected her to ask something else first.

"Sort of." He said and could see her about to protest to the answer and lifted his hand slightly to cut her off. "Like you have different emotional aspects, i guess you could say i am one as well, though we are personalities more than emotions. However, our three aspects aren't separated like your emotions, one aspect will be dominant at one time but the other two will be merged in there, so, half of one aspect, and a quarter of the other two." He tried to clarify.

Raven stared at him, though she wasn't sure if she could trust this apparent aspect, he did save her and did try to clarify with terms and examples she could understand.

"Ok then, setting that aside, why have your other aspects never taken over until now?" She asked only for Beastboy to chuckle.

"They have." He simply stated, he could see the agitation on her face and somewhat enjoyed the all too familiar glare. "The beast is one of those aspects, pure instinct." He clarified.

"And...you?" She continued.

"Come on, you must have other questions except about who i am." He replied with a sigh.

"...Ok then, how were you able to move around like Slade." She asked, more annoyed now that he had avoided her last question.

"Compared to my other two aspects, I am immune to your powers, well, not complete immune, lets say if you were to hit me with 100% power,. only 22% would affect me, that's why i was frozen for the short amount of time when the field first went up. That is always why no matter how hard you flung me, it never hurt as much as you would have liked." Beastboy answered with slight teasing at the end.

Raven looked at him, she was leaning back into the couch trying to relax, one leg cross over the other, taking another sip from the bottle of water, trying to calm her thoughts and take in the information just given to her and how it made her look at him for all these years. The green changeling who seemingly appeared out of nowhere, the same day that she had in Jump city, seemed less and less coincidental.

"Right...are you...the mature aspect?" She suddenly asked and Beastboy groaned with frustration, he had expected her to ask how much he knew about her father, about her heritage etcetera but all the questions were based around him.

"No and no." He said lifting a finger as her lips parted as though he knew what she was going to ask.

"...Why do you look, older then." She asked, she shivered feeling sweat dripping down her back.

"Look, Raven, no offence but, shouldn't you ask more significant or wise questions like, what should we do next and such? Why only ask about me?" He asked and in reply she just looked away slightly.

"Because, you said that you knew who my father was, so i assumed you knew everything there was to know. As for plan, i thought we were going to wait till my power runs out and then keep Slade away from the last few hours before the day is over." She said sternly, staring at Beastboy.

"You did notice the factory falling apart around us right? So if we just wait and the field collapses, what are the chances that the others will make it out alive before the whole place blows?" Beastboy said.

Raven looked down, he was right, again, now she was more worried than before, not just for herself but for her friends. Beastboy noticed her form shifting, as much as she liked to think that she could hide her emotions, she couldn't, Most people responded as she wanted to from the look in her eyes and the sound of her voice, when one plaid attention to the rest of her, that was not the case.

"Right, the reason i look different." He said, clearing his throat and Raven seemed to have snapped out of the grief stricken chain of thoughts and looked to him.

"You noticed my skin hardening earlier on, like armor?" He asked and got a casual nod as a reply.

"I sorta mix and match my body depending on the situation. Right now my muscles have the strength and density of that of a Gorilla, but my bone structure are that of a rhino, canine hearing etc. etc. etc. It would take too long to mention all the animals, spliced, in this form right now." Beastboy answered.

"Why haven't you done this before? This form does seem to have greater advantages, you did after all keep up with Slade, even with the granted powers from my father." Raven wondered.

"Wouldn't it have freaked you out? Well, not you specifically maybe, after all, that strangely hot half demoness thing you've got going really suits you. But what about the others? It was safer to be the little useless 'grass stain'." He said with a sight.

Raven sat there, blinking, her cheeks slightly flushed at what he said and begun shifting a little. "So what is the plan." She said with a slight cough.

"We go back to the factory, you unfreeze the others while i keep Slade busy, you should have enough power left to teleport the four of you back to the tower and get Cyborg to take you with the T-ship as far away as possible."

"What about you?" She asked worrying.

"I might not be immortal like Slade seems to be thanks to your Father, but i should be able to hold my own long enough for you to get away." Beastboy said with a confident smirk,

"And then what, he kills you?" She said with some anger.

"I knew the risk of this happening when i didn't kill you as i should have three years ago." Beastboy said sternly.

Ravens eyes widened in shock, did he just say that he had thought of killing her? Her hand visibly trembled and Beastboy reached forward, taking the bottle of water from her hands and then gently took her hands into his own, she attempted to pull away but he gripped just a little firmer.

"Sorry, that didn't come out right," He sighed and looked into her eyes.

"About your earlier question, about me watching you from the tree, i was there with you in Azerath but the priests seemed to have done something to your memory. When your mother sent you here after some convincing from a little green birdy, i followed. I was tasked by the high priestess to kill you the moment you showed any sign of your demonic side, your anger, taking control as a safety precaution. Remember the doctor light incident? That is one such incident where i should have, but couldn't bring myself to do so." Beastboy said, a warm smile on his face, never breaking eye contact with her.

"Why?" She barely could bring herself to say.

"Wouldn't be much of a guardian if i killed the one i am guarding now would i?" He smiled.

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**Heya, thanks for reading.**

**Granted its shorter than i wanted it to be but it was mainly to answer a few questions while asking knew ones, the next chapter will be have more action though so don't worry.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Guardian Chapter 3**

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Beastboy and Raven stood upon the roof of the apartment building where they had been hiding for the last 20minutes, their eyes slowly wandering over the frozen city, everything had a slight grey hue to it as time stood still. They could see birds in mid flight, simply staying in place, people down on the streets in mid conversations, a car turning a corner, so many every day things and now they were just there, stuck, frozen, unaware of anything that is happening around them.

The changed Beastboy stood beside Raven, putting his hand gently on her shoulder as he could feel the tenseness in the girl, no, woman beside him and didn't like it.

"Its ok, this will all soon be over Raven." He said with a sincere voice and smile.

"You make it sound like you know what will happen already." Raven replied quietly.

"Well, no, but i am not letting anything happen to you that's for sure." Beastboy said confidently. "Remember the plan?" He asked, knowing that she was not very happy with the plan that he had come up with on such short notice.

"Since i will be running out of energy you will be carrying me to the factory, then i will unfreeze the others which will get Slades attention. Then while you hold him off i teleport myself and the others to the tower and get away on the T-ship while you keep him busy." Raven said. "Bust Beastboy-" She said but the hand on her shoulder squeezed a little firmer.

"Don't worry, i will be fine, as long as you are, thats all that matters." He said but his voice and smile lacked the confidence it had moments ago.

She could sense this, he didn't expect to be able to hold out for long, but long enough for them to get away on the T-ship. Her vision blurred slightly and her knees felt weak, Beastboys hands instinctively held onto her form, keeping her from falling.

The maintaining of this time field was draining Raven far quicker than she would like and though he had been taking care of her, it felt like she had just finished one of the Titans obstacle courses, sweat running down her back.

"We better get going." He said and brought one arm down, gently scooping Raven up like a bride crossing the threshold to her house.

"Beastboy?" She said and looked up into his eyes, his smile was gone, if she hadn't a hold of her emotions she would likely had tears swelling in her eyes, the look on his face, as though this would be the last time he would ever see her.

Not giving her chance to continue he took a step forward, Raven clinging tightly to him as he had just walked over the edge of the four level building and landed feet first on the concrete below, bending his knees on impact to absorb the shock.

Quickly he ran down the streets, they were only a few blocks from the factory so it wouldn't take him long, there it was, in sight, suddenly his feet shot forward and pushed down, skidding across the surface and when he halted he looked back. Raven was confused, but she saw his ears and nose twitching, he could hear and smell something, Slade.

"Go." He said, never looking at her as he sat her down. "But" Raven wanted to object when Beastboy growled loudly. "I said go!" He yelled, her empathic senses could feel the anger, but again it was not directed at her, just care and a need to protect her, nodding, she started running for the factory.

Raven had barely taken more than two dozen quick steps in her pace and already she felt her lungs and muscles strain from exertion, she really hated her powers sometimes but she needed to conserve what she could if she was to bring them all out of the time field and teleport to the tower.

She could have run faster, she was until her head shot back every few seconds to see Beastboy still standing there in his altered form, as tall as any man she had seen, Dense, Strong but not disgustingly altered muscles visible through his charred and torn uniform, repeatedly before her eyes seeing the look on his face, out of all the people, never had she expected him to so willingly suggest sacrificing himself for her, she hated it.

"Now i have to say i was surprised." Beastboys head suddenly shot to the left at the sound of the all too familiar voice.

"I had suspected it might be Robin, being the leader, perhaps the Tameranian Princess considering her strength, Cyborg, perhaps, but out of all of them, it turns out the joker is her guardian." Slade said, his form becoming visible from around the corner of a building, in his old fashion walking calmly, hands behind his back.

"The deciever of fools you could say." Beastboy said with a slight smirk. "Let me guess, although you died by magma and not fire, it was still enough for your soul to be sent to HIS dimension, where he saw her in your memory."

"It was, yes, you are full of surprises today, but then he did say that is to be expected of her guardian. Now i have to say, after all our little skirmishes, i was very amused to find out that you were the reason he hadn't found her sooner, he wasn't even looking for her in this dimension." Slade said with a slight chuckle.

"Well, luckily there are only 2hours left and if the message isn't delivered, then there is no chance of her becoming the portal." Beastboy said with a confident smirk.

"And you are going to stop me boy? We might be equal in strength it seems, but you are not indestructiable as i am, i can see the damage on your body already." Slade laughed.

"I don't have to stop you, just hold you long enough." Beastboy growled, Slades head turning to look passed Beastboy, he could sense her, Raven was now at the factory and was bringing the others out of their timeless states.

"No!" Slade shouted but as his left foot hit the concrete from a single long step, Beastboy was already in front of him, fangs bared, growling with iris-less eyes and his fist struck hard in an upper cut motion against the underside of Slades chin, sending the villain slightly into the air.

Raven was breathing heavily, this was harder than she had thought, Starfire and Cyborg already had been unfrozen, looking at one another and Raven with confusion as she was bringing Robin out, the startled leader seeing the large gear that was moments from crushing him if it was not halted in time.

She could sense their distress, moments ago fleeing for their lifes and now every thing was still.

"Raven? What's going on." Robin said as he raised himself, dusting his clothes off.

"Yeah girl, one moment Slade is kicking all of our butts with those fancy new powers of his and the next thing i know you did, something." Cyborg said with slight haste of confusion.

"Slade was about to kill all of you, so without realizing it i used my powers to freeze everything to get away." Raven said and was motioning them all to move closer.

"Where is friend Beastboy?" Starfire said worryingly, no one else had noticed BB wasn't there.

"Even though everything is froze, Slade was immune thanks to those powers of his, Beastboy his holding him off long enough for us to get away." Raven said, trying to keep her monotone voice steady, wavering slightly however.

"What? We got to help him!" Robin shouted but Raven placed her hand against his chest to stop his motion of trying to run.

"When Slade was facing all of us he was holding back considerably, we don't stand a chance, we need to get away." Raven said sternly.

"If Slade was holding back he is going to kill Beastboy, we can't just leave him." Cyborg protested.

"Don't worry, Beastboy isn't holding back anymore either, he can take care of himself." Raven said.

"What do you mean he isn't holding back, Raven, even if he isn't, Slade took us all out without any trouble, we all know how stubborn Beastboy can be, Slade will have to kill him before Beastboy gives up, are you just going to let him-" Robin was shouting but he cut himself off as Raven was glaring at him, her glare could halt anyone, it wasn't the glare that did it however, it was a single tear running down her cheek.

"It was his idea, now come on." She said and had scooted them all closer, taking several deep breaths as after several seconds, time continued, the factory exploding around them, shrapnel flying and colliding with the walls and surrounding area, luckily they remained unharmed for now.

No one said anything as Ravens eyes opened, glowing a brilliant white and darkness wrapped slowly around them but as quickly as it formed, it faded. Raven looked around, they were still in the factory, confusion filling every ones faces as she tried again and again, but she was already too low on power to teleport all three of them.

Before anyone could say anything a section of the factory wall exploded with fire, metal and concrete alike flying in the path of the explosion, it was too their left so none of the debri headed for them. From the Debris however someone slowly raised themselves onto their feet, his uniform was torn, his body burnt and blood seeping from many gashes down the side of his head and body.

He looked quite badly beaten, visibly having trouble rising to his feet, they wouldn't have guesses who it was until they noticed the green skin. Raven knew, and she could sense his pain, she couldn't believe it, he should be passed out but there he was, still rising to the challenge, to protect, her.

"Is that?" Cyborg said startled.

"Beastboy!" Starfire called out at the state of her friend.

His head turned to look at them, growling loudly. "Raven what the hell, you should be out of here already!" He shouted their way when suddenly fire shot from the hole in the wall and consumed him. The four of them gasped as the flames visibly heated the ground beneath.

The flames faded, Beastboy stood there with his arms pressed together and head tucked behind them to protect his body, armadillo like armor having formed over his skin but even so, he had been a second to late and could feel his skin blistering beneath the extra grown layer.

"Will you cut it out with the fire already!" He shouted towards the hole, directed at Slade.

"Friend Beastboy? What has happened to you?" Starfire, partially whimpering at the sight of Beastboy before her, so much older looking but also badly beaten.

"No time to explain, Beastboy i don't have enough energy left." Raven cut in and explained.

"What the hell, you are meant to be the smart one, get to the T-car already!" Beastboy yelled as his head turned away and his body charged through the hole in the wall at Slade.

Raven was ready to slap herself on the forehead and turned to head for the car when Cyborg stepped in front of her, blocking her path.

"Raven, let Starfire take you wherever you need to go, Robin and I will back up grass stain." He said as he looked down at the empath and for once, he wouldn't let her argue her way out. Sensing this she simply stared into his eyes, giving him a weak little smile and nodded, turning to Starfire who gently wrapped her arms around Ravens waist.

"Please make sure friend Beastboy stays safe." Starfire spoke, hating to be left out of the fighting when her friends were but with Raven in her hands flew out of the factory and towards the tower.

Robin and Cyborg nodded to one another and headed out of the factory to help Beastboy, they could hear repeated loud thuds what sounded like Cinderblock running through walls, as they turned the corner, they were seeing something they had not expected.

Beastboy was growling loudly, throwing one quick strike and kick after the other, not giving Slade a chance to defend or counter, while most would simply be aiming to hit or knockout their opponent, Beastboy was aiming for any vital or weak point that he could. Finally he paused, breathing heavily, form hunched over and blood dripping from his brow, Slade's form stood there, twitching, his shoulders visibly dislocated, head back snapped in a horrific unnatural way, his knees were bent the wrong way, even his fingers were bent oddly as though every bone in his body was broken.

Robin and Cyborg were about to cheer, they had never seen beastboy do anything like this even as the beast and had single handedly it seemed defeated Slade, with a yell of pain however Slades form lifted and his body shifted, the sounds of bones cracking as they set themselves back into place filled their ears and send shudders down their spine.

"Nice, very nice, as a shapeshifter i should have guessed that you aim for spots most people usually wouldn't but now, its my turn." Slade said with the same stomach twisting chuckle of his and went on the offensive. Beastboy's movements were becomming sluggish, he had great Stamina but Slade was draining it quickly as he attempted to parry most blows to mount a counter, failing miserably.

Beastboys fist flew forward at Slade, the villain however ducking, grabbing Beastboys wrist and drove the palm of his second hand into Beastboys elbow, causing the shape-shifter to yell out loudly at the sound of his arm being broken, the yell was cut short, one of Slades elbows striking him in the stomach, twisting his body and pushing up, Slade brought his fist in an upper cut to Beastboys chin, sending the Green changeling flying back and skidding across the surface.

Slade took one slow step after the other towards the changeling, smirking under his mask as he saw the broken body laying just meters before him, his attention changing away from Beastboy, feeling explosive disks hitting his back as well as Cyborgs signature Sonic cannon blast. Lunging forward, Robin nor Cyborg could keep up with Slade, in three simple strikes he had disarmed Robin of his BO staff, forced the air from his lungs as he had Beastboy and had him hitting the street beneath his feet face fist.

Cyborg charged with an angry yell, throwing his fist at Slade but the masked man struck at Cyborgs fist with flames engulfing his, melting and shattering the mechanical mans left arm and sending him flying back, hopefully he wouldn't both him any further.

People were running from the scene, avoiding it as Time had returned to normal just a few minutes ago and were watching as their local heroes were being so easily thrown around, apparently whoever this man was whom they were attacking, was winning.

"Tick tock Slade, you're almost out of time." Beastboy said with a chuckle, blood seeping from his mouth, raising himself from the ground, only half way up before Slade had grasped him by the collar, smirking under his mask again as Beastboy spat at him.

"Bad manners." Slade said with a chuckle and his free fist repeatedly struck Beastboys form, stomach, chest and face, too many times for Beastboy to count and finally after what felt like the hundredth blow, he was tossed aside and into a wall by Slade, body slumping, any strength he had left him, his body was too badly broken to change, even if he were to change into his Beast form now, he would hardly be able to move.

Starfire was flying as quickly as she could, she had asked Raven where they should be heading but Raven told her to just head north, as long as they kept moving, they would be fine. Raven couldn't help but look back repeatedly to where the factory was, they were only a few miles from the city outskirts.

"I am also worried about our friends." Starfire said, breaking the silence.

"No offence Star, but i am more worried about Beastboy than the others, he won't stop no matter how badly he's hurt." Raven said quietly.

"He did seem very Protective of you." Starfire said with a little smile.

"Well he has to, he's, well, he said he's my guardian." Raven said, uncertain if it was a form of title or just something he self proclaimed himself to be.

Starfire smiled and parted her lips to reply, screaming out loudly in pain however as a surge of fire ran along her back and the back of her head, she could survive atmospheric re-entry, but this was still quite painful. Not realizing she had dropped Raven, gasping loudly as she dove after her falling friend. Slade jumped from one building top to the other and caught Raven in mid jump. Starfire yelled loudly anger, eyes glowing and energy encasing her hands but Slades arm swung out, swatting Starfire aside with the back of his hand.

"Now then Raven, where were we before all those rude interruptiosn." He hissed into her ear.

Raven yelled out as Slade spoke to her, touching her bare skin, red symbols flashing across her form, as he ripped her Leotard and cape off little by little, seeming to take his time and enjoying it all the more as he did but he was interrupted.

A loud yell from his right, Dropping the weakened Raven onto her knees, Beastboy throwing himself at Slade. Even with his body broken he wouldn't give up, each throw of a punch was slow, sluggish like he was in his small casual form.

Slade chuckling as he easily moved side to side to dodge each blow and ducked again. His legs sweeping across the floor, striking Beastboys ankles sending. Beastboy hadn't even touched the ground, still in mid fall when Slade brought both his fists into Beastboys stomach and chest, sending him flying over the edge of the roof.

Beastboy could sense it, trying to raise himself off the street, sense was passing Raven the message, hearing her scream, he tried growling as he looked up but eyes widened and then clenched, coughing, blood splattering the floor.

His eyes widened again, having looked up he saw Raven slowly falling from the roof, his bones were cracking, his muscles felt torn and bruised but he threw himself forward and caught her, back colliding against the car, pain shooting through his form but he caught her nonetheless.

If only he could have saved her from this fateful day.


End file.
